After long routes, juco duo nearly at NU goal(Carter/Stafford)

[n.e.husker]

LINCOLN — Al Lown got a call from Joseph Carter last weekend, and he said it wasn't hard to detect the satisfaction in Carter's voice.

 

Carter had finished some classes and gone through summer conditioning with the Nebraska football program, and his first practice with the Huskers was so close he could taste it.

 

 

"He seems really happy at Nebraska, from the several times I've talked to him over the summer," said Lown, Carter's former coach at Silver Bluff High just outside Aiken, S.C. "He appreciates being there, I know that."

 

Todd Gerhart and Daimion Stafford have had similar conversations. Stafford was excited to tell his former high school coach recently that his paperwork was complete and that he would be eligible this season at NU.

 

"Daimion has gone through the ringer," said Gerhart, head coach at Norco (Calif.) High and father of 2009 Heisman Trophy runner-up

Toby Gerhart. "I don't know how much he might disclose when you talk to him about it, but he's come out on the other end, I think."

 

Neither Carter nor Stafford had it easy on their way to Nebraska, through challenges growing up and a stop at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Now they will continue working on their comeback stories together as newcomers to the Husker defense.

 

"What I'm looking forward to is the time they give back, when they come back and give a testimonial to the other guys," Chaffey coach Carl Beach said. "Hopefully they can make it (at Nebraska), come back and refer to their own experience."

 

Stafford, a 6-foot-1, 210- pound safety, and Carter, a 6-5, 250-pound defensive end, will sit with their new teammates Friday at fan day and then go through their first Husker practice Saturday. They were the only junior college signees in the NU recruiting class last February. As newcomers to the program, they are not available for interviews until they have played in a game.

http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=new_post&f=1